Today, we would like to draw your attention to important deadlines in calendar year (CY) 2022 resulting from Electricity Tax Law (Stromsteuerrecht) and Energy Tax Law (Energiesteuerrecht), the Energy-Tax-Electricity-Tax Transparency Ordinance (EnSTransV), the Combined Heat and Power Act (KWKG) and the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).
A.S.A.P. – Operators of electricity generation plants
Operators of electricity generation plants who wish to make use of the tax exemptions pursuant to Section 9 (1) No. 1 or No. 3 Electricity Tax Act (StromStG) and have not yet submitted the application for the granting of the corresponding formal individual permit pursuant to Section 9 (4) Sentence 1 No. 1 or No. 3 StromStG to the competent main customs office should submit the required application(s) without delay. As long as a required individual permit has not been granted, the electricity quantities in question must be taxed. The electricity tax must be registered with and paid to the responsible main customs office. Tax relief for such basically tax-free electricity quantities can be claimed, if necessary, but only for the self-consumed electricity quantities.
Please note that the permit is granted with regard to the date of receipt resp. the application at the customs authority in charge as its earliest.
28 February 2022
- Section 71 No. 1 EEG 2021 - Obligation of plant operators to report to the grid operator: inter alia, all data required for the final account of the previous calendar year - CY 2021.
- Section 74a (2) EEG 2021 – Obligation of other end consumers and self-suppliers to report to the grid operator: among other things, the electricity quantities subject to EEG apportionment for the previous calendar year - CY 2021.
31 March 2022
- Operators of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants that claim surcharge payments under the KWKG must notify the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) by 31 March 2022 of, among other things, the quantities of electricity and heat generated in the previous calendar year - CY 2021. Depending on the nominal electrical output of the CHP plant, the details are regulated, among other things, in Section 15 (2) KWKG 2020 (electrical output > 2 MW) and Section 15 (3) KWKG 2020 (electrical output ≤ 2 MW).
31 May 2022
- Submission of the annual electricity tax return (form 1400) as a supplier and as a self-producer and the annual energy tax return (form 1103) as - among other things - a supplier of natural gas for CY 2021 to the responsible main customs office.
- By 25 June 2022, the self-assessed tax must be paid to the main customs office, deducting the advance payments already made, if applicable.
It should be noted that the obligation to submit the electricity tax return extends to tax-exempt electricity quantities. This means that the declaration must be submitted, too, if only tax-exempt electricity quantities are consumed by the company itself or supplied to end consumers.
- Reporting of electricity quantities subject to the EEG levy that were the subject of the sale of electricity to end consumers for CY 2021 by electricity supply companies to the responsible grid operator, Section 74 (2) EEG 2021.
- Notification to the responsible transmission system operator of the electricity quantities drawn from the grid and consumed by the company itself as well as forwarded to third parties in CY 2021 by so-called electricity-cost-intensive companies which, as companies, have claimed or wish to claim a limitation of the KWKG levy, pursuant to Section 27 (3) Sentence 1 No. 2 KWKG 2020.
- Notification of the electricity quantities subject to the EEG levy for CY 2021 by so-called electricity cost-intensive companies that were limited with regard to the EEG levy pursuant to Section 64 or Section 103 EEG 2021, as well as notification of all electricity supply companies from which the company was supplied with electricity in CY 2021 to the responsible transmission system operator, Section 60a sentence 2 EEG 2021 (in conjunction with Section 74 EEG 2021)
30 June 2022
- According to the current legal situation, the application for limitation of the EEG levy for the limitation year 2023 must be submitted to BAFA by 30 June 2022, online via the ELAN-K2 portal. This applies to so-called electricity-cost-intensive companies, Section 64 EEG 2021, railroad companies, Section 65 EEG 2021, as well as transport companies with electrically operated buses in regular service, Section 65a EEG 2021.
- With regard to newly established companies, railroad companies or transport companies as well as so-called shore-side power plants, Section 65b EEG 2021, and the production of hydrogen in electricity cost-intensive companies, Section 64a EEG 2021, the application deadline according to the current legal situation is 30 September 2022.
- (notifications and declarations) in accordance with the EnSTransV for electricity tax and energy tax benefits claimed in CY 2021 must be submitted. This applies in particular to the tax refund pursuant to sections 53a, 54, 55 Energy Tax Act (EnergieStG), sections 9b, 9c, 10 Electricity Tax Act (StromStG) and sections 12c, 12d Electricity Tax Ordinance (StromStV), the tax exemptions pursuant to section 9 (1) No. 1 and N. 3 StromStG and the tax reductions pursuant to sections 3 and 3a EnergieStG.
31 December 2022
- The tax refund applications for electricity withdrawn for own business purposes in CY 2021 or for the energy products used in CY 2021 must be submitted to the responsible main customs office by 31 December 2022. This concerns, among other things, the refund options according to Sections 9a, 9b, 9c and 10 StromStG as well as Sections 12a, 12c and 12d StromStV and according to Section 51, 53, 53a, 54 and 55 EnergieStG.